


firsts

by theredhoodie



Series: Thunderblink Prompts [3]
Category: The Gifted (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 04:41:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12763389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theredhoodie/pseuds/theredhoodie
Summary: Prompt request for the first Thunderblink "I love you"s.





	firsts

**Author's Note:**

> I was gonna make this cute but I made myself cry instead.
> 
> Not to toot my own horn but it feels so canonical that I want to send it to the show writers and ask if they can make it a thing hahaha

The blood pounded in Clarice’s ears, far louder and more ferocious than her shoes slamming down against the pavement. “Come on, come on!” She didn’t know if she spoke loud enough for anyone to hear, or if she was only urging herself on, past the threshold of what her body could take.

“Left!” She heard John’s voice from far behind her and followed his instructions without question. She turned to the left, down an alley, the dozen or so mutant kids between the two Underground fighters following her. She was _leading_ them. She just hoped she wasn’t leading them into certain doom.

“Warehouse on the right!”

If she had any breath left, she would have said something witty about him being her own personal GPS, but instead she sucked in lungfuls of air and skidding to a halt. Gripping the metal handle to the door, she yanked it open and ushered the kids in. They all looked exhausted, terrified and yet accustomed to the fear. Her heart twinged as they brushed passed her into the dark.

Her emerald eyes met John’s briefly before he took her elbow and pulled her inside with him and closed the door in one fluid movement. “Are you okay?” he asked softly.

She gulped in more air and nodded and shrugged at the same time. “I’ll live.” She smiled at him weakly in the dim lighting. “Are you?”

He nodded too, though his looked a lot steadier and more assured than her own.

“What do we do now?” one of the kids asked. The lot of them were gathered together like a flock of ducklings, older ones hugging younger ones, sparks and flashes of unkempt power occasionally flickering but causing no damage.

“Go to the far left corner,” John told them, his voice somehow commanding and kind at the same time.

“Be careful of nails!” Clarice yelled after them as they started picking their way across in a stumbling, fast walk.

John grabbed her own arm when she tripped over a piece of something large on the floor, perfectly hidden in a shadow. “Are you sure you can do this?” he asked her, not letting go. He slid his hand down her arm and clasped her fingers in his.

“I have to.” Clarice blinked back tears. Tears from fear of failure, fear of getting caught, the fear of having all of those kids relying on her and she wasn’t even sure she was strong enough.

“Do you remember where you have to take them?”

She nodded. John had taken her there once. At least, as close as they could get to the building. She hadn’t been able to see inside, and it had been a brief visit. Her portals were getting stronger but this was bigger than anything she’d tried before.

“Keep going!” John urged, his voice echoing in the building. He pulled Clarice along with him and joined the kids in the dark corner.

This was it. Clarice rubbed her face with the sweaty cuffs of her sweater and braced herself for the big jump. John pushed some of the kids back a little with his arm as light sparked between her hands. She pictured the building she was sending the kids to. It was too dangerous to bring them back to the HQ. That would have been more feasible: she’d done it before and she’d spent enough time there to have a strong connection to the condemned bank.

This was totally different.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated and the portal grew. A foot wide, two feet wide, expanding beyond the reach of her hands. She grasped at the location and it slipped. Her portal flickered.

John looked cautiously over his shoulder, tilting his head to hear.

The kids huddled and whimpered.

The portal grew again, before it flickered. John turned back to her as she dropped her arms, sweat and tears mixing on her face.

“I can’t,” she shook her head. “It’s too far, I can’t.”

“Hey.” He stepped forward, blocking her view of the kids. His hands settled on her shoulders. “I know you can do this.”

Her eyes focused on nothing, her strength waining. “I don’t have a connection to the place I’m sending them,” she explained, her eyes sliding down to the concrete floor, grey and black.

“Clarice.” John’s hands moved to her face. “You can do this.”

She slowly looked up at him, meeting the intensity in his eyes, wishing his faith in her was enough. “How can you be so sure?” she asked, not caring as tears escaped her eyes. She was so tired, all she wanted to do was lie down for a moment and not have to worry about about a god damn thing.

“I love you.” No hesitation, just his hands on her face, his eyes and voice steady and strong.

She waited, searching his face, waiting for a “just kidding” as her heart exploded in her chest.

His thumbs brushed across her cheeks. “Clarice?”

She couldn’t stand around and process the explosion of emotions going on inside of her if she was going to get the out of here. She reached up to his wrists and squeezed before backing up toward the wall, keeping her eyes on him the whole time.

“Get ready,” she said, a portal sparking to life in between her hands.

A swell of power hit her like a physical force as it grew until it was over five feet tall, showing a dark, abandoned room on the other side.

“Go!” she yelled.

John nodded to one of the older kids. “Go, hurry. It’s safe!”

The kids moved slowly and then quickly, jumping through and clearing the way for others. John could hear Sentinel Services getting closer but they would all be gone within seconds.

The last kid went through and John followed them. A moment later, Clarice walked through her portal from the other side. She swayed a little with the exertion of power, but knew she’d be fine this time.

“I told you,” John said, voice light and proud as he walked toward her.

He touched her back and she turned around, not caring about the dozen of witnesses, and nearly collided with him. Their lips touched and her hand slid around the back of his neck, his hands quickly finding places to settle against her body. It was a kiss born of desperation and _love_ and longing. 


End file.
